Warp and weft knitting machine.



- PATENTED JUNE 30, 1903.

G. T. NIGHOLLS. WARP AND WEFT KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION I'ILED JAN. 11, 19!]2.

10 MODEL.

PATENTED JUNE 30, 1903.

G. 'I'. NIGHOLLS. WARP'AND WEFT KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 11, 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

10 MODEL.

No. 732,433. PATENTED JUNE so, 1903.

G. T. NIGHOLLS.

WARP AND WEFT KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1902.

10 MODEL.

4 SHEETS-811E121 4.

UNITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATE T OFFICE.

GEORGE r. mc oL s, orrRovmEncE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO MORTONFIELDMANUFACTURING COMPANY, or GHERAW, SOUTH CAROLINA, A'CORPORATION'OF soUT-I-I CAROLINA;

WARP AND WEFT KNITTING MACHINE.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. v732,433, dated- June 30, 1903. Application filed January 11, 1902. Serial No. 89,348. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE T. NICHOLLS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county ofProvidence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Varp and'Weft Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Like characters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a warp and weft knitting machine to which my invention is applicable. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of the oscillating Warp-distributer, which is the subject of this invention, the means of imparting movement thereto, the needle-cylin der, needle cam-cylinder, needle, and needlebar in their relative positions when the warpdistributer is at the limit of its outward oscillation. I Fig. 3 is aview, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of the 'same elements as seen when the warp-distributer is at the middle point of its oscillation and has risen to clear the top of the needle-cylinder. Fig. 4 is a View, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of the same elements as seen when the warp-distributor is at the limit of its inward oscillation. Fig. 5 is a view in horizontal section of that part of the warpdistributer. ring where the upper camway is which gives to the warp-distributors their oscillating movements. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the inner side of the warp-distributor ring, showing the upper camway for giving the oscillating movements to the warp-distributors and the lower camway for the periodical rise and fall of the warp-distributers at the middle of each oscillation thereof. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view,inside elevation,of the bottom of my improved warp-distributor having two thread-holes therein and the top of a needle of a knitting-machine, together with the warp-thread passing through said threadholes. Fig. 8 is an enlarged view, in side elevation, of the bottom of a warp-distributor provided with only one thread-hole and the top of a needle, together with the warp passing through said thread-hole. Figs. 9 and 10 show in side elevation the needle-bars with their lugs and a needle mounted in each of said bars, respectively. Fig. 11 shows said needles inposition and the upper camway in the needle cam-cylinder forimparting to the needles the proper knitting movement.

understanding of the subject-matter of this application.

In Fig. 1 is shown in front elevation a warp and weft knitting machine, the purpose of which is to make a combined warp-and-weft and knit fabric. A suitable frame is provided, and the main shaft of the machine, driven by power, turns a train of gearing by which the usual needle-cylinder l is rotated and also another train of gearing by which a warp-distributerring 14 (supported at the lower end of a central vertical shaft or hanger) is rotated in the same direction as the needlecylinder 1 and with the same speed. Surrounding the needle-cylinder is a fixed needle cam-cylinder 3. The needles 10 are mounted and are vertically reciprocated on the needle-cylinder in the usual manner.

The warp-distributor ring 14 has the camways 23 25 and is rotated by the gear illustrated in Fig. 2. A circular bead 15 extends around the ring 14, on the upper edge thereof, having its upper edge rounded and its sides concaved, as seen in Fig. 2. The ring 14 has equispaced radial slots on its outer periphery, in which the warp-distributers 16 have an oscillating movement and by which they are limited to a direct radial motion and prevented from lateral displacement.

There are as many warp-distributors 16 as there are needles 10. Each warp-distributor 16 is integral throughout; but one portion constitutes what may be called a head and another portion an arm, extending downwardly from one side of the head. On the lower side of the head is a slot 17, which has a closed concave end, and said slot 17 receives the bead 15 of the ring 14, as seen in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Each warp-distributer 16 has on its head two ears or projections 18 and 19. Near the lower end of the arm of the warp-distributer are two thread-holes 20 and 21.

A fixed cam-ring 22 is properly supported above the warp-distributers 16 and has on its under'surface a groove or camway 23, into which the cars 18 of the heads of the warpdistributers 16 project, and a fixed cam-ring 24 is properly supported behind the warp-distributers 16 and has on its outer periphery a groove or camway 25, into which the ears 19 of the heads of the warp-distributers 16 project. The cam-ring 22 is shown in horizontal section in Fig. 5, which illustrates the course of the camway 23, and the cam-ring 24 is shown in Fig. 6, which illustrates the course of the camway 25.

The circular series of needles 10 is divided into several sections, each section containing as many needles as may be desired for the purpose, and for each of said sections there is a weft-guide 26, secured to the lower side of the ring 14. Each weft-guide 26 has a thread-hole through the end thereof which is near the needles 10.

The warp-threads 30 pass from bobbins or spools (shown in Fig. 1) down to the warpdistributers 16, and each warp-thread passes first through the thread-hole 20 and then through the thread-hole 21 of a warp-distributer 16. The weft-threads 31 pass from the bobbins orspools (shown in Fig. 1) through the thread-hole in the end of the weft-guides 26, respectively. The knitting-threads 32 pass from bobbins or spools (shown in Fig. 1) through the knitting-thread guides 23.

The thread marked 31 in Fig. 1 is the filling-thread, which passes up from the spool through a filling-thread guide a to the top of the needle-cylinder, as shown in said figure.

Each needle 10 is inserted and secured in a longitudinal slot in the upper portion of the needle-bar 7. The upper end of each needle has a hook 11 and a latch 12, pivoted at 13, as best shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Each needle-bar 7 has an upper lug or projection 8 and a lower lug or projection 9. The lugs 8 project into the camway 4 of the needle camcylinder 3, and the lower lugs'9 are patternlugs extending into the camway 5 of the needle cam-cylinder 3.

Having thus described the parts of my invention, I will now explain their operation.

The needle-cylinder l revolves as usual. The needles 10 rise and descend, as'in other knitting-machines, by means of the lugs 8 of their needle-bars 7 traveling along the camway 4 of the fixed needle cam -cylinder 3. The knitting threads 32 pass, as usual, through the knitting-thread guides 28 and are looped and drawn by the needles 10 in the usual manner. The fabric2 is tubular in form and passes down inside the needlecylinder 1 between feed-rolls and is wound on the cloth-roll, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The warp-distributors 16 are all mounted upon the circular bead 15 of the rotating ring 14 and have both a longitudinally-oscillating movement and a reciprocating vertical movement, as seen in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. In Fig. 2 the warp-distributer 16 is shown at the limit of its outward oscillation. Here the upper surface of the head 15 is in contact with the closed concave end of the slot 17 of the head of the warp-distributor 16. The cams or lugs 18 and 19 of the warp-distributer 16 are respectively in the camway 23 of the cam-ring 22 and in the camway 25 of the cam-ring 24. In Fig. 3 the warp-distributer 16 is elevated and unseated from the top of the head 15, the downwardly-extending arm of the warpdistributer is perpendicular, the ear 18 of the warp-distributor has risen into the camway 23 of the ring 22, and the ear 19 of the warpdistributer has traveled up the incline of the camway 25 of the cam-ring 24. In Fig. 4 is shown the position of the warp-distributor 16 at the limit of its inward oscillation, the car 19 thereof having traveled to the top of the incline of the camway 25.0f the cam-ring 24. As the ring 14 rotates in the same time and direction as the needle-cylinder 1 and as the cam-rings 22 and 24 are fixed in position,the warp-distributors 16 regularly and constantly oscillate from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4 and back again. This oscillation is caused by the travel of the ears 18 in the camway 23 of the cam-ring 22, the form and direction of which are plainly shownin Fig. If each warp-distributor 16 oscillated upon a fixed pivot, the lower end of its arm would describe a downwardly-directed arc of a circle and would therefore strike against the upper part of the needlecylinder 1, and thus be prevented from moving farther in said are. I therefore provide means by which the warp-distributor 16 is lifted over and clears the top of the needlecylinder 1 in vibrating. The position of said warp-distributer in so clearing or moving over the top of the needle-cylinder-l is illustrated in Fig. 3, and this clearing movement is caused by the travel of the ear or lug 19 of the warp-distributor 16 along the camway 25 of the fixed cam-ring 24, the form and direction of which are shown in Fig. 6. In passing from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3 the warp-distributor is lifted, because its car 19 is then moving up an incline in the camway 25 of the cam-ring 24; but in passing from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4 the warpdistributer descends, because its ear 19 is then moving down a decline in said camway 25. The conjoint action of the needles 10,

the warp-distributors 16, the weft-guides 26, the knitting-thread guides 28, and the rotating needle-cylinder 1, together with the warpthreads 30, Weft threads 31, and knittingthreads 32, produce a combined knit and Warp-and-weft fabric or cloth, as fully explained in my said pending application, Serial No. 131,801, with patterns formed therein, as set forth in my said pending application.

Each warp-distributor 16 has near its lower end two thread-holes 20 and 21, most plainly seen in Fig. 7. The purpose of having these two thread-holes in the warp-distributer instead of one thread -hole, as illustrated in Fig. 8, is as follows: Whenever a warp-thread 30 has run out or been broken, another warpthread is tied by its end to the end of the Warp-thread so broken or exhausted. The knot Where said warp-threads are tied together is marked a; in said figures. The two loose ends of said threads beyond the knotm are designated in said figures as y and z. If the warp-distributer 16 had but one threadhole 21 at its lowerend, as illustrated in Fig. 8, before the knot w reaches the thread-hole 21 the loose end of one of said warp-threadssay the one designated in Fig. 8 as z-hangs loose and is liable to be engaged between the latch 12 and hook 11 of the needle 10, and the consequence would be that the warp thread -would break as the same is knitted into the fabric, thus making an imperfection in the cloth; but by using two thread-holes 20 and 21 in the warp-distributor, as illustrated in Fig. 7, the .ends y and z of the warp-threads which have been so tied together both pass through the two said thread-holes 20 and 21 and lie side by side as they come out of the thread-hole 21, by which means the extremities of'said thread ends y and z, passing having a'downwardly-extending arm adapted to carry a warp-thread and provided with an car on its upper edge movable in and engaging with said camway, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a rotatable warp-distributer ring having a circular bead on its upper edge, a fixed concentric cam-ring having on its outer periphery a vertical zigzag camway, a warp-distributor loosely mounted on said bead and having a downwardly-extending arm adapted to carry a warp-thread and also having a shorter parallel downwardlyextending arm provided with an car on its side movable in and engaging with said camway, and means adapted to oscillate the warpdistributer in a vertical plane, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of a rotatable warp-distributer ring having a circular bead on its upper end, a fixed concentric cam-ring having a horizontal sinuous camway, a second fixed concentric cam-ring having a vertical zigzag camway, and a warp distributer loosely mounted on said bead and having a downwardly-extending arm adapted to carry a warp-thread, which warp-distributer is provided with two cars or lugs on its edge, one at the top movable in and engaging with the first-named camway and one at the side movable in and engaging with the second-named camway, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE T. NIOHOLLS.

Witnesses:

D. ELEANOR LYOKLAND, WARREN R. Prison. 

